What If
by Jazza-44
Summary: Lizzy's granddaughter,Amanda's, life becomes invaded by Drop Dead Fred... but he's not quite the way he used to be. For better or... for worse?
1. Repeated History

Lizzy may have grown old and gray now but, she still believed that every now and then, she could see Drop Dead Fred out of the corner of her eye. If she didn't move, and didn't blink, she would see him standing near to her and always watching, always waiting. Or so it seemed. Lizzy was happy. Happy with Mickey and their two daughters, Natalie and Mary. Natalie was Mickey's daughter from his previous marriage, but Lizzy loved her the same as her own daughter she'd had with Mickey.

Fred had gone to Natalie after leaving Lizzy, but she'd been happy because that meant he was still, sort of, in her life. But as Natalie had grown older, she let go of Fred and his world of topsy-turvy-ness. Natalie barely remembered Fred now and that made Lizzy sad. Not only had she lost Fred, but now Natalie had moved away from home and was halfway across the country now. Mary and her husband had separated after having a child and had never remarried. Their child, a daughter they'd named Amanda, nicknamed Mandy by Grandmother Lizzy and Grandfather Mickey had been hurt deeply by the separation of her parents and had become antisocial and depressed. The lack of joy in her life was worrying. But that, unknown to everyone, was about to change…

Amanda was nineteen and had had enough of fighting with her mother. The woman seemed to know nothing about what her screaming did to Amanda. So, without a backwards glance or even a goodbye, Amanda went to her grandparents. She used the only piece of advice her father had ever given her. "Get out." He'd said, as he'd gotten up to leave. "Get out of here my girl before you end up like her!" she'd never seen him again.

Her grandmother seemed to have been expecting her to show up. 'Grandma and grandpa are stars of joy.' Amanda always thought to herself whenever she saw them. They were warm and kindly, just like family ought to be.

"You want to move in with us?" Her grandmother asked, smiling slightly. "That's excellent! You're always welcome, my dear, always welcome."

"Thank you grandma, grandpa. You've no idea what a weight that is off my shoulders." Amanda smiled brightly back; they were already rubbing off on her. She felt happy, and loved.

"Just make yourself at home sweet." Her grandfather said, turning back to his newspaper.

"Thanks, grandpa." Amanda got up and went to fetch her things from her car.

"Need a hand?" He asked, starting to get up.

"Oh, no thanks grandpa. I got it." Amanda smiled before leaving the room.

Amanda sat on the end of the bed in her room at her grandparents place. Her mother had tried to call her several times but Amanda hadn't picked up her phone. She lay back on the bed and looked out the window, staring at the stars. She had told her grandparents she would pay them rent for letting her stay with them but they had declined such an act saying that, because she was family she didn't need to.

Every time she'd been here as a kid, something strange had happened. There was magic in this house, Amanda was sure of it. There, a noise. She was sure she'd heard something. Her grandparents had gone out to evening mass and weren't due home for another fifteen minutes. All the windows and doors were locked, so there was no way for anyone to get in without her hearing it. So…what was that sound? It was coming from down stairs. Amanda got up and went to investigate. She'd just made it down the stairs when the sound began to move. It went from the laundry, to the kitchen, through the dining room and into the living room. Amanda followed the sound nervously. Once in the living room, she felt against the wall for the switch. Finding it, she turned on the light. Nothing. Just a big empty room. She went over to the floor rug and straightened it before standing again and turning slowly, then… There! Out of the corner of her eye she'd seen it! Whatever it was. Green and yellow. But there was nothing there now. Nothing but the curtains closed over in front of the window. Sighing deeply, she turned to leave. But, there was a man there. Dressed in green and yellow. With orange, messy hair and wild eyes. He grinned mischievously at Amanda.

"Oh my god!" she screamed. "Who're you? Where the bloody hell did you come from?"

"You're not Lizzy." The man said. He vanished from where he had been standing and reappeared next to her in a flash of blue lights.

"No…"Amanda said, eyeing him carefully. "I'm her granddaughter, Mandy."

"Natalie's daughter?"

"No. Mary's."

"Oh, that whiny, snitchy, two-faced little brat who always spoiled our fun." He looked at her carefully. "You don't much look like her."

"That's a relief." Amanda said, watching him closely. "I don't like her either. That's why I moved in here with my grandparents."

"Lizzy and Mickey Barnes." He turned suddenly when he heard the car pull up out the front and voices traveled up the front path.

"It's only my grandparents." Amanda said, realising what had made him turn frantically.

The front door opened and her grandma and grandpa walked in, hanging their coats on the rack as they always did. Her grandma came into the living room and saw Amanda, but seemed to see no one else.

"Hello dear, how-" her grandma began but Amanda cut her off.

"Grandma, you don't see anything the matter with this room do you?" Amanda asked.

Her grandma looked around the room. "No, dear."

"You don't see anyone in here."

"Only you Mandy."

"You're sure." Amanda said, pointing at the man she could see but her grandma clearly couldn't.

"Absolutely positive."

"Alright, on our merry ways we go." Amanda said, quoting her grandma who smiled and left the room. Amanda waited until she was sure she couldn't be heard and then turned to the man still standing there plain as day, who only she so far was able to see. "Okay. Who the hell are you and why can't she see you?" Amanda demanded.

"My name is Drop Dead Fred, I am an imaginary friend and that is why only you can see me." Fred explained, grinning as he did so.

"So I'm hallucinating then?" Amanda asked.

"No." Fred replied, stepping forward and pinching her arm very hard.

"Ow!"

"See. If you were hallucinating you wouldn't have felt that." A smug smile spread across his face.

"Well then, you've got the wrong person." Said Amanda, rubbing her arm. "Aren't you meant to be off with some little kid? If you hadn't noticed, I'm a little old to have an imaginary friend."

"Anyone can have an imaginary friend, doesn't mater how old you are." Fred replied.

"What am I doing?" Amanda asked her self, closing her eyes. "I'm having a conversation with an hallucination. Talking to thin air for heavens sake. I'm leaving."

She left him standing in the living room and went to find her grandparents. She found them in the kitchen talking quietly.

"Hey." Amanda said as she opened the fridge, only to find Fred sitting in there.

"Hey!" he yelled at her as he jumped out at Amanda. "Where'd you go we were only just getting' to know each other!"

"Go away." She whispered at him.

"You want me to go away? Fine, just say the magic words and I'll piss off." Fred replied.

"Piss off." Amanda said, a little too loudly.

"What did you say?" her grandma asked.

"Ha-ha! Gotcha! Those weren't the magic words!" Fred laughed at her.

"I…I said…I said piss off grandma, but I wasn't talking to you or grandpa." Amanda explained.

"Well then, who were you talking to?" her grandma inquired, tilting her head on one side.

"I think I'm hallucinating." Amanda said. "Because only I seem to be able to see him."

"Him who?" her grandpa asked.

"He… he calls himself… oh, never mind it's stupid." Amanda said, going upstairs to bed.

She was walking around in only her underwear when he appeared next to her in her room. She grabbed her dressing gown to cover herself as he starred at her like some sex driven adolescent like the boys her age and a few years older did when they saw hot chicks walk past on the street or in a pub. He looked about twenty five, so that fit the expression on his face. Only, he wasn't looking at her body, he was looking into her eyes. It felt as if he were looking into her very soul, and found what he saw there pleasing.

Never taking his eyes off hers, he began to advance towards her. Very slowly, very carefully, as if scared of frightening her.

"Mandy…" He whispered, edging closer still. "You're lonely."

"Yes." Amanda replied, the look in his eyes making her blush slightly.

"You're sad because you feel lonely and unloved." Fred was right in front of her now. "I know… I can feel what you feel."

"Oh God, I hope not." Amanda said, taking a step back from him.

"But I can, Mandy. I feel what you feel, want what you want." Fred stepped closer to her, reaching out and brushing the back of his hand against her cheek, watching as she closed her eyes briefly from his gentleness.

"What do I want Fred?" Amanda whispered, opening her eyes again.

"This." Was all he said before pulling her close and kissing her tenderly.

"Mmn." Was the only sound she could make. His gentleness surprised her. He made her feel warm and wanted and…loved. Was that what she felt towards him? Love? She'd barely known him a day. He pulled back and looked into her eyes again, searching for something, watching her expression, regarding the emotion that lay there.

"Sleep now, Mandy." Fred told her, but it wasn't a demand. Amanda complied however, and went to sleep tonight feeling truly safe and loved for the first time in her life. Tomorrow, we'll begin our adventures." He whispered as he curled up next to her, and she finally fell asleep.


	2. Through New Eyes

"Mandy. Hey Mandy, wake up!" Fred whispered in her ear, shaking her shoulder slightly.

Mandy rolled over and looked at Fred through sleepy eyes before sitting up and looking at the digital clock. She groaned. "Fred, its seven thirty. In the morning." Mandy rolled over again and pulled the covers up over her head, wanting to go back to sleep.

"Come on Mandy!" Fred tugged at the bed covers. "Get up, we've got adventures to go on!"

With that he jumped off the bed, pulled open the door, and ran downstairs. Mandy began to drift back to sleep, when she suddenly remembered some of the stories that her grandma had told her when she was little. About an imaginary friend she'd had, called… Drop Dead Fred. Mandy sat bolt upright in bed. If this was him, who knows what messy, crazy or even dangerous things he could be getting up to down there. Mandy sprang out of bed, dressed in record time, and sprinted downstairs to the kitchen. She found Fred there and, funnily enough, he was frying eggs. He looked up as she came around the corner of the kitchen and she stopped dead when she saw him.

"Morning!" he said brightly. "Who's for fried eggs on toast? I know I'm starving, how about you?"

"You're cooking. Not making a mess." Mandy watched him carefully. "You seem different to how grandma said you were… or are you still like that but this is another side of you?"

"Don't you like this me?" Fred inquired, a smirk playing on the corners of his mouth. "I can be Lizzy's Fred but that wouldn't help you… it would be fun though!"

"No, no. I do like this you. Just wondered why you're different for me." Mandy said.

"I cater for each 'child's' needs. But there's something different about you. Something more… I can't put my finger on it…" Fred seemed to be talking to himself as he served up the eggs, but she didn't mind. He was okay looking, outgoing, friendly enough… a bit crazy. "Although, you need me to be crazy sometimes too."

"Do I?" Mandy asked skeptically.

"Yes. Tuck in!" Fred said as she sat down at the table and he pushed a plate towards her.

They ate together in silence for a while, which seemed uncharacteristic of Fred if he was still anything like what he'd been with her grandma. But he soon got her chatting.

"So? What'll we do today?" he asked, leaning towards her across the table, an enthusiastic and mischievous smile on his face.

"Uh-oh." Mandy looked up at him worriedly, but she felt her insides melt when she looked at his face. "Maybe not in the house… it's too…normal."

"Riiiight. That means there's only outside things to cause havoc with!" Fred cried, grabbing her arm and running with her outside.


	3. What's Going On?

"No! Fred!" Mandy yelled as he let go of her hand and sprinted out the back door. She raced out after him and squealed playfully when he jumped out at her from behind the garden shed. "Fred!" she laughed as he vanished and reappeared quickly about her in flashes of blue with the added sound of an old jack-in-the-box.

"Right," Fred said, reappearing behind her. "Lets make pigeon pie, there's plenty of them for it!"

"Um, perhaps not… I rather like birds." Mandy said cautiously.

"Why?" Fred asked grumpily. "Did they teach you how to do it too?"

"What?" Mandy asked, a little confused, and then realised what he meant. "No. Of course not. Why, or rather how, would I learn that from watching pigeons?"

"Well, because they do it a lot, and people watch pigeons a lot." Fred explained.

"Oh, I get you." Mandy smiled. "Um, I know how, but I don't do it. And it's not from watching pigeons, believe me. We have to learn about that stuff in school now, so…"

An odd but not awkward silence fell over the two, and Fred began to get a mischievous look on his face once more. Mandy shifted uneasily and watched him circle around her, drawing nearer to her with each step he took. Birds chirped in the tree around them and a butterfly landed amongst the roses to Mandy's left, but all she could focus on was Fred. Fred, with his cheeky smile and secret charms. He stopped close in front of her and for a moment they just looked at each other. Then, before Mandy had time to react, Fred leant forward and kissed her. It was gentle and slow, his arms wrapping around her waist as hers found their way to his hair and shoulders. Mandy suddenly shoved him away and took a few steps back from him.

"No. No, this isn't right. You're…you're … you're not even real!" Mandy cried. "You're… Fred? What are you doing?"

"I'm real," Fred replied as he pulled her into a comforting hug. "I'm as real as the ground we're standing on. And I'm here for as long as you need me."

"What if I want you?"

"For as long as you need me…"

Mandy wandered around her grand-parents home looking for Fred. Trust him to want to play hide-and-seek. Mandy looked everywhere then began to think she was going insane. That was it. Her mother's madness had finally gotten to her. Soon she'd be screaming at children who weren't even old enough to know what they'd done wrong.

Fed up with wandering around the house alone, Mandy decided to go into town. She needed to go shopping anyway. Her grandmother had asked her to buy groceries. Yes, that's where she'd go. The supermarket. She'd get away from the house for an hour or two and forget this whole Drop Dead Fred nonsense.

Mandy raced to her car and screamed off down the road, completely unaware that Fred was sitting behind her. Very confused as to where they were going and also feeling rather mischievous.

"Mandy!" he cried out in his crazy voice from the back seat.

"Argh, Fred! What are you doing back there?" Mandy yelled as she continued to drive down the road.

"Coming with you. Isn't it obvious?" Fred smirked, clambering over into the front passenger seat.


	4. Just, No!

Mandy continued to drive, glancing sideways at Fred every few seconds like he was a bomb that was about to go off. He continued to sit beside her, watching everything around them and remarking things that, on occasion, made her smirk.

"Okay, now I'm getting bored!" Fred finally said, turning towards her and taking a strand of her hair in his fingers and playing with it. "Are we actually going somewhere?"

"Yes Fred, we are...or, I was..." Mandy, once again, glanced sideways at Fred, expecting mischief from him.

"Well then, let's go there!" Fred yelled as he franticly twisted and jumped about in his seat pointing at this and that.

Mandy looked round for somewhere to go. Even though she knew Fred would cause mischief and mayhem anywhere he went, Mandy knew he needed entertainment…and soon, or he would cause her to have an accident!

Mandy pulled over and turned off her car. "Right, out."

"What?" Fred stared at her, bug-eyed.

"You heard me, get out of the car." Mandy replied, getting out of the car herself.

"No!" Fred crossed his arms and looked away, deciding now to be childish. "Shan't… Shan't! Shan't! SHAN'T!"

"Fine then, stay there. See if I care." Mandy sighed as she shut her door again and locked the car as she turned away. Mandy had only gotten a few steps from the car when the car's horn sounded, loudly, and made her and everyone around her jump a foot in the air. "Oh, bloody hell!"

Mandy spun round, intending to drag Fred from the car, only to come face to face with her intended victim himself. She glared daggers at him as he stood there, grinning inanely. Knowing full well she couldn't rant at him in full view of the general public, Mandy swiftly made her way towards the tree nursery to her left, where she could talk to Fred without the confused and judgemental stares of others.

Mandy tugged Fred behind a line of oversized shrubs.

"Whaaaaaaat?!" Fred whined. Mandy expression was blank, but the look in her eyes said how annoyed she was. "What?!"

"No." Mandy glared. "Just… No!"

**Thoughts?... Anyone?**


	5. The Accident

"But I don't understand what I did wrong!" Fred sulked in the corner of Mandy's bedroom as she worked away on her computer. "I thought we were having fun."

"You were having fun…" Mandy glared up at him over her computer. "Making me look like a complete idiot!"

"You looked like you were bored shitless." Fred grumbled and pulled his knees up against his chest in a huff.

"I _like_ museums and art galleries and libraries!" Mandy continued to glare daggers at Fred. "Besides, if _you_ were so _bored_, why didn't you just _pop _off and annoy someone else!"

"I'm bound to you!" Fred replied, exasperated. ""I'm you're _imaginary_ friend. I'm stuck with you just like you're stuck with me! And besides, if _you _ had _real_ friends and weren't so upset about your bloody parents all the bloody time, you wouldn't need me! But no, you had to be the girl with _issues_ didn't you."

Mandy turned, stood and walked out her bedroom door. He wouldn't see her cry… he just wouldn't.

Fred knew she was crying and attempting to hide it. He hated what he'd said. He wanted to take it back…but he knew he couldn't. He hadn't meant to say that to Mandy. He loved her like no other person he'd been an imaginary friend to. He had to apologise. He had to apologise NOW!

He followed her presence downstairs and out the front door. He remembered doing the same thing to Lizzy when they'd had a fight.

"Mandy!" Fred called out to her and was relieved when she turned to face him…though she was still crying.

"Fred, I-" Mandy's words were cut off by the horn of an oncoming truck and then the crunch of breaking bones as it hit her.

Fred rushed to her side, as did everyone else in the bloody vicinity. He looked her over and attempted to go into her dream mind to talk to her, but found he couldn't. She was definitely _alive_, which meant she was having a nightmare…

His Mandy was having a nightmare… and he couldn't help her…

_**Please R&R!**_


End file.
